Once in 1518, Guru Nanak Ji, Bhai Mardana, and Bhai Bala came to a nearby village. They stayed here for a few days and did kirtan (singing of hymns) and preached the message of God. Baba Budha Ji, who was only twelve years old, heard that a great saint was in town, so he decided […]

Once in 1518, Guru Nanak Ji, Bhai Mardana, and Bhai Bala came to a nearby village. They stayed here for a few days and did kirtan (singing of hymns) and preached the message of God. Baba Budha Ji, who was only twelve years old, heard that a great saint was in town, so he decided to go and visit him. When he went, there was a large crowd gathered, so he offered some milk to the Guru and then sat with the rest of the sangat (congregation).

After some time, everyone in the sangat left and went home, but Baba Ji did not leave. He remained seated by Guru Nanak. He then asked Guru Nanak the following question, “Please cut my cycle of life and death.”

Guru Sahib replied: “You are only a CHILD yet. But you talk so WISELY.”

“Some Mughal soldiers set up camp by our village, and they destroyed all our crops. The RIPE as well as UNRIPE crop were both cut down. It made me think, that just as the soldiers do not look at the crop’s age or growth before destroying it, similarly when death comes it does not consider the AGE or YEARS of a person before it comes and takes them away.”

Hearing this Guru Nanak Sahib jee said, “You are NOT a child; you possess the WISDOM of an OLD MAN.” From that day, BooRaa, came to be known as Bhai Buddha jee. ‘BUDDHA’ in Panjabi meaning a WISE OLD MAN.